More Portman for Veep Crazy Talk

Now that Bill has opened this can of worms, we're seeing it again. This time Mort Kondracke of Roll Call quote a GOP strategist:

One GOP activist, Bradley Blakeman, a former aide in both Bush White Houses and now CEO of the conservative group Freedom's Watch, says that McCain's speech today at the Conservative Political Action Conference will be crucial.

But Blakeman also advises to win over Huckabee and Romney with honored positions at the GOP convention. He also thinks McCain should name a vice presidential running mate early.

His recommendation is former Rep. Rob Portman (Ohio), who's "young and dynamic" and has held two Cabinet jobs, or Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Either could help win a large swing state.

As bad as the suggestion of Crist is, the Portman talk is still CRAZY!!!

UPDATE: While we're on this crazy topic, allow me to clarify something from the previous post that I'm not sure all the dots were properly connected on... Whenever someone says to Voinovich that Portman might put up a primary challenge to him, The Crying Man says, "Oh, Portman? He's no good above Columbus." Could it be that Our Senator RINOvich is WRONG AGAIN???

UPDATE 2: Another reason why I think all of this Veepstakes talk is crazy is that I remember the glory days when Ken Blackwell was going to the be the Veep someday... How's THAT working out???

UPDATE 3: Add A. B. Stoddard of The Hill to the pile on of crazy...

He can assure his base by immediately beginning a discussion with the conservative coalition — religious leaders, immigration foes and tax cut advocates — about his pick for vice president. This person needs to be young, affable and popular in the party: the anti-Cheney. No matter what his appeal or how much McCain owes him, he cannot pick Mike Huckabee, criticized by party purists as a tax-and-spend liberal. McCain should choose from the bench of comers who will lead the Republican Party of tomorrow. They include: Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, whom conservative religious leaders attempted to recruit for the 2008 race; Gov. Charlie Crist of the critical battleground of Florida; or Rob Portman, a longtime congressman from the key battleground of Ohio, and both budget director and U.S. trade representative to President Bush.

Stop the insanity!